Anglo Saxon and Norman England I

Question 1

What were the powers of the king?

Answer 1

-Lawmaking
-Taxation
-Money systems
-Landownership
-Fyrd
-Religion

Question 2

What is the Witan and what did the king have to do with it?

Answer 2

They were a council that advised the king, and the king decided who was in the Witan, what issues to discuss, and whether to listen to them or not.

Question 3

What power did the earls have?

Answer 3

Collecting taxes, overseeing law and order, and military power.

Question 4

What were the advantages and disadvantages of Edward the Confessor?

Answer 4

Advantages: Religious leader, wise lawmaker, married to Edith (the daughter of a rich and powerful Earl Godwin)

Disadvantages: Had been exiled in Normandy so few supporters, no children and struggled to keep control of Earl Godwin

Question 5

What did the Anglo Saxon government system do?

Answer 5

Made sure the king’s wishes were carried out through the kingdom, and that each community completed it’s duties (tax, law and order, fyrd)

Question 6

What was a shire reeve and what was Edward the Confessor’s writ?

Answer 6

A shire reeve was the king’s representative of the local gov, and his responsibilities written were to collect revenue, geld tax and fines, as well as to judge cases and witness his laws upheld in a shire court, and men for the fyrd.

Question 7

What are shires, hundreds, tithings and hides?

Answer 7

Each earldom was divided into shires, each shire was divided into hundreds, hundreds into tithings. Tithing - 10 households, Hundred - 100 hides. Hides - 120 acres.

Question 8

Name 5 features of law and order in Anglo-Saxon England

Answer 8

• Collective responsibilities
• Hue and cry
• Wergild
• Trial by ordeal

Question 9

What gave England it’s strong economy?

Answer 9

• Good climate for farming
• Strong trade links across the North Seas to Scandinavia
• Efficient tax system
• Central control of money (so it was reliable)

Question 10

What are burhs?

Answer 10

The fortified main town of each shire.

Question 11

Anglo Saxon society and roles were flexible. True or False?

Answer 11

True. A peasant could become a thegn if they did well and acquired more then 5 hides of land. At the same time, peasants could become so poor that they had to sell themselves into slavery.

Question 12

Five key features of the Anglo-Saxon Church?

Answer 12

• Bishops were rich and important
• Very few people in Anglo-Saxon England were literate
• Most local priests farmed like peasants
• Monks and nuns farmed like ordinary people
• The Church was resistant to reforms

Question 13

By the 1060s, the House of Godwin came to dominate the Anglo-Saxon politics, what powerbases did they have?

Answer 13

Tostig Godwin became earl of Northumbria in 1055
Gyrth Godwin became earl of East Anglia in 1057
Harold Godwin became earl of Wessex in 1053
Aelfgar became earl of Mercia in 1057

Question 14

Political marriages in the Godwin family?

Answer 14

Earl Godwin’s Edith and Edward
Harold Godwin and Edith of Mercia
Tostig and Judith of Baldwin of Flanders.

Question 15

3 key features of Harold’s embassy to Normandy in 1064?

Answer 15

• King Edward sent Harold to Normandy but we dunno the message he wanted to give to William of Normandy
• He was captured by Count Guy of Ponthieu but William rescued him. Harold fought for him and William rewarded him
• Harold swore an oath as part of the embassy but we dunno the promise.

Question 16

Why was the embassy important?

Answer 16

• Harold was trusted by Edward for political affairs and military campaigns. (Right hand man style)
• William used the embassy for his claim to the throne
• Normans used the fact that Harold was an oath breaker

Question 17

Key events in rising against Earl Tostig?

Answer 17

Oct 1065 - Northumbrian thegns against Tostig
They invite Morcar (brother of earl of mercia)
Edward orders his earls to put down the uprising but they don’t listen
Harold agrees with the demands to replace tostig with morcar
1, nov - tostig is exiled
Harold weakened the House of Godwin but strengthened his claim to the throne

Question 18

Why did people not like Tostig?

Answer 18

• Went too far with his lawlessness
• Abused his power to threaten nobles and unalived nobles
• Overtaxed the northumbrians and became friendly with Malcolm III of Scotland

Question 19

Rival claimants for the throne and why?

Answer 19

Harold Godwin - appointed successor to deathbed, supported by witnesses, had the witan support to be king

Edgar Aethling - Royal blood, but a teenager

Harald Hadrada - A secret deal made between vikings, had an incredibly strong military experience (300 ships and 15000 warriors), and expected the Danelaw regions to welcome him

William of Normandy - King Edward’s embassy, backed by the pope, good military strength if he could get his knights across the Channel to England

Question 20

Reasons for gate fulford?

Answer 20

Harold Godwin was crowned the day after Edward died - 6th Jan 1066
Morcar and his eldest brother Edwin gathered an army to defend an army to defend the north
Hardrada and Tostig had 10,000 warriors on the River Humber and then marched to York
Morcar and Edwin decided to meet them in open battle at Gate Fulford rather than defend York

Question 21

Events of Gate Fulford?

Answer 21

Edwin and Morcar were outnumbered
Hardrada hit the english troops on the side, breaking their shield wall
Hardrada and Tostig took many english hostages
Harold was forced to come north to deal with this, affecting the battle of hastings

Question 22

Battle of Stamford Bridge?

Answer 22

Harold surprised the Viking army at Stamford Bridge
Harold won, Tostig and Hardrada died
Vikings left their armour at the ships, english broke their wall

Question 23

Significance of Stamford Bridge?

Answer 23

Great victory for Harold
William invaded in the south while Harold was in the north
Harold had to rapidly move south again with housecarls
Harold’s victory may have made him complacent about William’s threat

Question 24

Key events of the Battle of Hastings?

Answer 24

• Harold failed a surprise attack
• Harold’s army was uphill
• The battle lasted 8 hours - long for a medieval battle (both were evenly matched)
• William’s archers were first to attack but the english shield knew how to catch the arrows
• William’s soldiers were beaten back, harold’s housecarls did great damage
• The Normans started panicking that William was dead, he tipped his helmet back to show he was alive
• A feigned retreat was made
• The english went to chase the normans and the sheild wall was thinned
• Harold and his brothers made their final stand at the top, fighting to the death
• They died

Question 25

Reasons for William’s victory

Answer 25

• Luck - surviving storms, timing, luck in battle
• Leadership - pre fabricated castle, timing for the fyrd to disband, logistics of the channel crossing
• Tactics - feigned retreat, innovation of knights as a shield wall
• English tactics - shield wall can only defend, lack of archers, predictable
• Harold’s leadership - Failure to surprise, involving his followers, racing down for london